It Seems Like The Infamous Trash Can is Right Here! - Chapter 220
I felt the strength tighten in his hands and forearms where they held the reins lightly.
“It’s a big problem, isn’t it? You have to take responsibility.”
“Serenia…”
He breathed my name like a groan.
“I’m sorry for causing you trouble. It’s not like I didn’t foresee this.”
I had only half expected it.
I knew Lionel would react to me. I hadn’t expected my own body to react.
Honestly, if it were anyone else besides Lionel, I could have handled it.
I wouldn’t like being touched, but if it was necessary, I’d tolerate it. Just like having to dance with men besides my partner at a ball.
But Lionel Luanax, this man alone was too special. He threw everything out of control.
I prided myself on not being someone with poor judgment, but when it came to anything involving Lionel, I couldn’t keep my reason.
I flared too easily, got swept away too easily. My heart churned like a storm-tossed sea.
Love was so intense it made it impossible for me to remain wholly myself.
Surely Lionel was the same.
That was why, every time I was in danger, his cold reason collapsed like a sandcastle before waves, and he ran to me, throwing everything aside.
Being torn apart, dying miserably… none of it ever made him hesitate.
Now I understood the heart of the past me, Serenia Solen, the one whose memories I couldn’t recall. I was certain I loved Lionel just as fiercely now.
Though that didn’t mean I intended to make the same choices as before.
“Lionel, will you let me take the reins?”
Either way, after today, I would not ride together with Lionel again.
If we were alone, it would be fine. But with this many people around, absolutely not.
‘Someone is bound to notice eventually.’
Even now, my face was already burning.
I certainly needed riding practice, but if I couldn’t ride with Lionel, then there were two options.
One, was to accept someone else’s help.
‘Lionel will be disappointed even if he doesn’t show it.’
The other was proving I could ride alone perfectly well.
“I’ll be fine, won’t I?”
“Of course. And you may hold on to my waist if you like.”
Lionel handed me the reins and placed one hand on the saddle’s horn and the other arm around my waist.
He had already explained at the beginning that a well-trained warhorse wasn’t likely to spook and buck someone off, so I didn’t need to be afraid just because this horse was larger than the one I used to ride.
Its frame was so broad that pressing my thighs and calves close and applying force was harder than expected, but if my muscles were already screaming, I might as well push a bit more.
First, the same trotting pace Lionel had set when he held the reins.
‘This has to be the last time.’
Carrying desperation, I tried to shut out the sensations that had been focused on Lionel.
Keeping my upper body straight, I released the strength from my overly tense body so I could sway naturally in time with the horse’s movements.
‘Alright, I can do this.’
I could feel my body gradually recalling the experiences of my childhood back when I lived in Solen.
Among the routines Father and my older brother had put together to build up my stamina, wasn’t horseback riding the one I’d enjoyed the most?
As we slowly picked up speed, the cold early-winter wind cooled the heat on my face.
Even though the wind seeped through my clothes, I wasn’t cold at all. Lionel’s body heat as he held me felt warm, as if he were a stove.
It felt just right.
A laugh escaped me at the sense of liberation I was feeling for the first time in a long while.
I wanted to gallop freely across the wide-open plains without any interference. In my heart, at least, I was racing ahead at full speed, exhilarated.
…But since Halid, who still didn’t trust me, was watching me with sharp eyes, we could only maintain a pace just a little faster than a brisk trot.
